Wireless tags used for wireless radio-signaling, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or labels, can include memory to store data that identifies a wireless tag, as well as other information about an object or item that the wireless tag may be associated with. A wireless tag may be attached to an object or item, or included in packaging of an object or item. Conventional systems used for tracking inventory in a warehouse or retail store environment with RFID tags involves using multiple stationary RFID readers with high power antennas to triangulate the position of the wireless tags. This type of RFID tracking system is not cost effective to implement, difficult to scale, and requires complex setup. The same can be said for using other types of tracking systems, such as with cameras that may encounter resolution, lighting, and environmental conditions that interfere with being able to track inventory and/or retail items in a retail store environment. Other types of systems may employ infra-red lighting, pressure sensors, and/or load sensors on product shelves in an effort to identify inventory and products that are picked up and handled, but are also expensive to implement and require complex setup.
With reference to retail and product sales in a retail store environment, conventional systems are not able to adequately track products that may be considered for purchase by a shopper, but then ultimately placed back on the shelf or left at checkout without a product sale. With a typical on-line retail website interface that provides an on-line shopping cart where a shopper can temporarily place items for purchase, an on-line retailer will know exactly the items that the shopper browsed, the items selected and placed in the on-line shopping cart, and the items that were subsequently purchased, removed from the on-line shopping cart, or simply left in the on-line shopping cart when the shopper navigates away from the website. There is no comparable system for tracking the products that a shopper considers in a retail store environment, where the shopper may select an item off the shelf and subsequently place it back on the shelf, place the item in a shopping cart or basket, or simply carry the item with them for purchase. In these types of conventional retail store environments, only the items that a shopper actually purchases at checkout are trackable as purchased inventory.